BICOM

A huge crowd gathered for the funerals yesterday of the three Israeli youngsters kidnapped and murdered almost three weeks ago.

Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaer, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, were abducted while hitchhiking in the West Bank, their fate gripping Israel ever since. Their bodies were discovered on Monday afternoon. Israel has named two Hamas members from the Hebron, missing since the time of the abduction, as the prime suspects.

Yesterday afternoon, separate ceremonies were held in the teenagers’ three home towns before they were laid to rest side by side in Modiin in central Israel. In Talmon, Finance Minister Yair Lapid eulogised Gilad Shaer, urging for the public to respond with a show of unity, and stressing that, “Rage is not holy. Hate can never be pure.” He added, “If in fact we seek to punish our enemies, there is no greater punishment than for them to behold this sight and to see that nothing can divide us.”

Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke in memory of Eyal Yifrah in Elad, saying the teenagers “were murdered just because they were Jewish.” Meanwhile, Rachel Frenkel, mother of Naftali thanked Israel’s security services, saying “you promised you would find them and you did, that is a great kindness.”

Tens of thousands of Israelis then gathered at the Modiin cemetery. President Shimon Peres spoke to the assembled crowd, saying “We prayed for a miracle, unfortunately a tragedy occurred.” He then vowed “We will strike with a strong hand until terror is eradicated at the root.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the grieving parents, saying “The whole nation has witnessed your inner strength and that of the rest of your family.” He also emphasised “a broad moral gulf [that] separates us from our enemies,” explaining “They sanctify cruelty, and we mercy and compassion. That is the secret of our strength.”

Yesterday evening, a gag order was lifted on an emergency call made to the police by one of the boys, to alert them to the kidnapping. The recording was broadcast on Israeli television, in which one of the youngsters can be heard whispering “they’ve kidnapped me.” There has been sharp criticism of the police for failing to act on the call for several hours, possibly hampering the search for the teenagers.